Waiting For Forever
by EmandEms
Summary: Clare and Eli are in completely in love, so when he misses their date, she's distraught. Little does she know she's about to catch him doing something very unexpected. Oneshot.


**Why didn't I start writing fic sooner? It's so fun. Ha.**

**Anyway, this takes place sometime between When Loves Takes Over and Jesus, etc. **

**Enjoy! **

"Mom, I'm going to the Dot. Be back around three, okay?" Clare called, heading for the front door.

"What'd you say, Clare?" asked Mrs. Edwards, emerging from the kitchen and wiping her hands on a dishrag. Her face had streaks of flour in it and she looked very tired.

"I said 'I'm going to the dot.' You couldn't hear me?"

"Sorry, the mixer is awfully loud. Why are you headed out? I'm making brownies, if you wanted a snack you could have just asked for a bite."

Clare looked down as a blush cascaded over her face.

"Ah, I see," said Mrs. Edwards. "Well, tell that little boyfriend of yours hello for me. And that I want you home by five, we've got to take these treats up to the church for the newcomers meeting."

"Actually, Eli kind of wanted me to come over to his house for a little bit after we ate," said Clare timidly. "We've got this big English paper to work on."

"Will his parents be home?"

"No, they have to work tonight."

"Then absolutely not."

"Mom," Clare said in annoyance, "Come on, you don't trust me? We're just going to be working on a paper."

"I'm sure you are, Clare. It's just that you can't be at someone's house if there isn't an adult there, especially if it's the boy you like. You know the rules," said Mrs. Edwards, disappearing back into the kitchen.

This was ridiculous. She and Eli had been dating for nearly six months and had yet to do anything more than kissing….albeit very _passionate_ kissing. However, Clare was still very much sticking with her abstinence promise. Though she had come to realize that there was quite a bit they could experience together physically that wasn't sex, at least by her definition. So Clare had a lot of thinking and planning to do, and Eli was being so sweet and waiting patiently for her to figure things out. She thought she was being rational and responsible, so it really irked her that her mom didn't seem to trust her at all.

"Mom, come on. I'm almost sixteen; can't I have just a little bit of freedom?"

"Not today, Clare."

"Well then can I bring him back here?"

"No, I'm having some ladies over to help me with this baking then we've got the church meeting tonight. Which you signed up to help with over a month ago, missy," Mrs. Edwards' voice floated from the kitchen.

"You signed me up for that," Clare muttered. "Bye!"

"Be home by five!"

Though it was nearly March, it was still really chilly outside, so Clare pulled her jacket snugly around herself as she trekked to the Dot. It was 1:50 and Eli had promised to meet her at 2 for a late lunch. She was so excited to finally spend some time with him outside of school.

Last fall, she had kind of sabotaged his reputation with her parents and they never really got over their resentment. During their divorce, they hadn't kept too close of an eye on her, so she and Eli had had many the adventure all over Toronto, but now that things at home had evened out and the divorce was pretty much final, things became almost….normal again. Her parents started getting along better than when they were married. Her home fell into its old routine. Back to the rules, back to the structure, back not to seeing Eli whenever she wanted. She really missed him.

Pulling open the door to the dot, she scanned the eating area and her heart sank when Eli was nowhere in sight. She hadn't seen Morty when she walked up, but she thought maybe he had decided to walk, too. No such luck.

Knowing Eli would be irritated if she bought he own food, (he had this obsession with paying for everything) she sat down at a booth by the window and waited for him.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

By 2:30 she could no longer ignore her stomach's desperate pleas, so she ordered a burger, fries and a tea. Where was he?

She texted him, waited five minutes, then texted him again. Her frustration growing, she called him. This was so unlike him! When he didn't answer, she snapped her phone shut, paid for her food and left. Angry tears bit at her eyes as she stalked down the sidewalk towards her house. She and Eli hadn't had any alone time in nearly three weeks, and now he just decided to blow her off? How wonderful of him. An ambulance siren blared in the distance and she stopped dead in her tracks. Oh my god. Oh no.

How could she have been so stupid? Of course Eli hadn't stood her up. Something must be terribly wrong with him. Who knows? Maybe he wrecked Morty, or one of those treacherous piles of crap in his room had finally collapsed on top of him. She turned and began to frantically make her way to Eli's.

He didn't live that far away, but the ice on the pavement was making it really hard for her to walk. She tried to break into a sprint, anxiety gnawing at her insides, but wiped out as she rounded the corner of his street and wacked her cheek sharply on the pavement.

"Oh," Clare whimpered, putting her face in her hands.

She rolled over and pushed herself onto all four, blinking rapidly to clear her vision. Her head felt thick and swollen and as she touched her lip, she noticed it was busted.

"Are you okay?"

Clare looked up to see an older gentleman peering down at her with wide eyes.

"Um, yeah," she said, standing up slowly but still wobbling. Her caught her arm and steadied her. "Thank you."

"You really shouldn't be running on a day like today, sweetheart."

"I know, I know."

"Do you need any help home?" he asked gently.

"No, actually, that's my house right there," Clare said, pointing towards Eli's.

"Well alright, then. Be safe, little one," he said and continued on his way.

Clare padded carefully over the next few meters of sidewalk and up Eli's front steps. She narrowed her eyes as she noticed Morty in the driveway. Well, at least he hadn't died in a car wreck.

Her head was still really hurting so she pounded on the door kind of urgently. Bullfrog always liked his beverages practically frozen, so the Goldsworthy home contained lots of ice. Clare really needed some for her head.

"Eli?" she called. "Hey, open the door."

No answer. This was getting ridiculous. She knew his parents were out, so she tentatively tried the door. It swung open revealing an eerily quiet entry hall.

Clare was not the type of person who normally just barged into other peoples' homes, but when you've just taken a major hit to the head, you do crazy things. At least, that's what Clare was saying to try and quell her conscience. After all, this was Eli's house…and he had always said she was welcome any time. She really hoped that applied to right now.

She checked the front room for him, but he wasn't there and the pounding in her head was getting way too intense, so she gave up and went to the kitchen in search of ice. She was successful, also taking some ibuprofen with a glass of juice. Clare took off her coat and mittens, sat down at the kitchen table, put her head on top of the soft pile of clothes and waited for the medicine to kick in.

It took about 10 minutes, but the pain and nausea finally started to fade away. Clare sighed, lifting her head off the table and stretching. A loud clunk from upstairs caused her to quickly retract her arms. So that's where Eli was. Hmmmm.

"Eli?" she called, slowly walking up the stairs. "Hey, where are you?"

His door was closed, so she gently knocked on it. When he didn't respond she pushed it open, to find Eli, sound asleep and sprawled out on his bed. There was a box of books lying on the floor, and by the way its contents were strewn about, she guessed it had fallen off the bed recently. His comforter was on the floor, too hinting at restless sleep.

"Huh, wouldn't have pegged you as a kicker," she whispered to herself, sidestepping the many booby-traps and sitting down on the edge of his bed.

Eli was only wearing plaid boxer shorts, and was on his stomach with his right leg cocked and drooling spilling out of his mouth. He looked oddly adorable. Clare had never seen this much of him before and it was really exciting. His pale skin looked so soft and she couldn't help but trail her fingers from his neck, across his shoulders and down his back. Goosebumps appeared wherever her fingers touched, causing Clare to smile.

"Mmm," Eli moaned, shifting his hips and rubbing his face into his sheets.

Clare blanched and pulled her hand back. She eyed him, but noticed his gaping mouth and realized he was still sleeping. His raven hair was now even more tousled and his lips were slightly parted. God, he was so sexy like this.

"I wonder," said Clare, reaching out for him. "No, gross. Stop being such a pervert."

She jumped back alarmed by her dirty thoughts and tumbled off the bed, landing on top of a stack of old popcorn buckets and causing quite a ruckus.

"Whasssgoingon?" Eli shot up in his bed, flailing around wildly with wide eyes.

Clare rubbed the back of her head. It was hurting again. Today was just not her day.

"Hey, babe," she said.

"Clare? Hey, what are you doing here?"

"Here, like in your house? Or here like in your bedroom?" Clare laughed.

"Well both, I guess," Eli said. He looked endearingly confused, his hair sticking up in all directions like a little boys.

"Well," Clare started, but the way Eli was now sitting, Indian style on the middle of his bed, revealed his very sexy chest and a small problem pushing up against his boxers. She couldn't help but clam up and blush.

Eli caught her line of sight. Then, "Oh, god. Oh, I'm so sorry, Clare. I swear, it gets like this every time I sleep. I'm not a pervert or anything." He jumped up and started frantically sifting through his piles of junk.

"Eli, it's fine," Clare giggled. "I just thought that only happened in the morning, to most boys."

Eli stopped his search for pants and cocked an eyebrow. "Have you been researching it or something?"

Clare's blush deepened. "What? No! I just thought…I mean, in health class they tell you," she sputtered.

Eli walked over to her, still only clad in his boxers and nudged her playfully with his elbow. "You looked it up."

"I didn't I swear."

"You looked it up," he smirked.

"No! Eli!"

"You looked it up," he laughed, bringing his spindly fingers to her sides. He wiggled his eyebrows seductively.

"Don't you dare," Clare breathed.

"Too late."

Clare gasped as his fingers started to playfully wiggle on her sides, drawing tingling circles from her hips to the undersides of her breasts.

"No, stop," she shrieked.

But he didn't relent, playfully tackling her and throwing her on top of his bed, his fingers continuing their dirty work. Clare soon completely dissolved into a fit of giggles, Eli laughing along with her.

"Eli!" she screamed, as he hit her most sensitive spot, the place right above her belly button. She writhed and tried to get away from him, because as much as she loved being close with Eli, she _hated _being tickled.

He drew back smiling. "Well, well, Clare Edwards screaming my name and writhing around on my bed. Can't say I haven't fapped to, er, _imagined_ this moment."

Clare frowned. "Gross, Eli."

"No," he said, leaning over her again, looking completely serious. "Not gross."

He captured her lips, kissing her slowly, but with a passion he never had used before. Heat spread from Clare's chest all the way down to her toes and she felt his tongue sweep over her teeth and his hot breath in her mouth.

"Clare," moaned Eli. Now he was the breathless one.

He trailed open mouth kisses down her neck, and his warm lips worked their magic on her collarbone, too. But when he pulled her shirt down and started sucking on the top of her cleavage she knew it was time to stop.

"Hey," she said, pushing back on his shoulders, which she couldn't help but notice felt extremely sturdy and sexy underneath her small hands. "That's enough."

"Sorry," he blushed, sitting back and dropping his head so his eyes were hidden by his hair. "Didn't mean to push you."

"It's fine," Clare said. It was way more than fine, actually. But Clare knew she needed to make him stop before she did anything stupid. She hadn't quite decided on her new boundaries.

"Um," Eli said, picking at his bed, obviously embarrassed. "You never did answer my question."

"What question?"

"About why you're here…?" He trailed of, finally looking up at her, green eyes slightly cloudy.

"Well, we were supposed to meet at the dot like, an hour and a half ago and you didn't show so I was kind of getting worried."

"We were?" asked Eli eyebrows raised.

"Yeah, we were texting about it yesterday."

"I don't remember that," he said. Clare eyed him, but by his completely befuddled expression she figured he was actually telling the truth.

"Here, look," she said, pulling her phone out of her pocket and clicking on her texts. "See."

Eli took it and looked at the screen.

"Oh, god. Clare I am so sorry, I got to bed really late and…"

"Wait," said Clare, realization dawning on her. "You hadn't been up yet? When I came in here I woke you up for the first time today?"

Eli looked sheepish but he nodded.

"So you just slept through our date? After all this, after us not getting to see each other outside of school in like _ever,_ you just blow off something I was really looking forward to because you were tired?"

"Clare, come on. It's not like that at all," Eli said, reaching for her hand.

"Then what is it like, Eli? You stood me up!"

"Clare!"

"No! Here I was, thinking you were terribly hurt or something. I ran over here and nearly died! (Okay maybe she was exaggerating a little.) Even when I saw you sleeping I thought you were sick! That would've made sense. Anything but the fact that you're just too lazy to enforce a bed time for yourself!"

"Hey! You're the one who was texting me till 2 AM, missy," Eli interjected, a grin twitching on the corners of his lips.

"Eli!"

"Okay, okay," he said, holding up his hands in mock surrender. "Not the time, I get it. But Clare I didn't stand you up on purpose, I've been having trouble sleeping lately and didn't get to bed until like 9 this morning. Not because of anything I was doing, I was just laying here, wishing for sleep."

Clare deflated. "Oh." She was so stupid. Eli was telling her the truth and here she was practically yelling at him like some crazy physco girlfriend.

"I'm really sorry that you thought I was hurt, Clare. Or that I didn't want to spend time with you. Cause it reality, that's all I want to do."

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Yeah," he smiled, leaning in for a brief kiss.

Clare giggled and tried to kiss him harder.

"Whoa now," Eli said, pulling back as soon as Clare's tongue touched his. "We really need to stop, ma'am. I don't feel comfortable with this."

Clare scowled and whacked him on his bare chest, but Eli merely laughed and winked at her.

"Hey Clare, if you've still got some time, I'd love to take you out."

"Well," Clare wrinkled her nose, "I think the staff at the dot might think I'm weird if I go there twice in such a sort time period."

"So? You care too much about what people think!"

"I also might've already eaten."

"Ah. Well, we could always just go for ice cream?"

"Yeah, that sounds great. I've got till 5."

Eli smiled, big and warm like a little boy on his birthday. He scrambled over to his bedside table, grabbed his wallet, and then hopped off the bed offering his hand to Clare.

"The hearse awaits, m'lady."

Clare giggled and took it standing with him and heading towards the door.

"Oh, Eli, wait!" She said rather frantically.

"What?" he asked, turning around to look at her.

"Maybe some pants."

**THE END**

**Well, there is it is :) I really hope y'all like it.**

**I would love to hear what you thought about it! I got a nice amount of hits on my last story, but not a lot of reviews...so PLEASE let me know what you think. Even if you hated it, let me know. I even enabled anonymous reviews so you don't even have to take the effort and log in. haha.**

**Till next time.**


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